Losing Hope
by Hopeful Writer
Summary: This is not really horror in the way most people see it. It's about the attack on 9/11. Please read this; it took me a long time to be able to write. TK and Matt are on the plane that attacks the hijackers. Some of this story is a real-life experience.


Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own what happened on September 11, not that I want to. This story was inspired by the song She Didn't Know (She'd Kissed a Hero) by Kristy Jackson. I don't own that, either.  
  
A/N - It took me ages to be able to write this fic. It's based on the 9/11 attack. I just hope that if you read it, it pulls at your heartstrings, because I cried when I was writing it. It's a happy ending, but a sad story. Like most others, it's a Takari and Taiora, with a little Mimato thrown in, but I don't think there's anything else. R&R, please. It might make you feel better if you read this.  
  
Ages:  
  
Joe - 18  
  
Tai, Sora, Matt - 17  
  
Mimi, Izzy - 16  
  
Ken, Yolei - 15  
  
TK, Kari, Davis - 14  
  
Cody - 11  
  
Not all the characters are in this.  
  
LOSING HOPE  
  
By: Softball Chicks  
  
"I'm going to visit Mimi for two weeks."  
  
For some reason, on September 10, when TK said those words, my heart stopped beating for a second. I tried to shrug the feeling, but I just thought something bad was going to happen while he was there. "Why?" I wondered, glancing into his cerulean (A/N - I love that word!) eyes.  
  
TK sighed dramatically. "Matt wants to see his girlfriend," he grumbled. "I'm going to miss you, though."  
  
"You'll only be gone for two weeks," I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"That's two weeks too many." He stooped down to kiss me, and I accepted willingly.  
  
"I'll miss you, too," I whispered, letting him wrap his arms around me.  
  
It had been three years after the final battle against Malomyotismon. My family and TK's family had moved to California, in the United States, because the crime rate in Japan had nearly tripled. Our parents didn't want us exposed to the possible threat on our lives. Shortly after the final battle, Matt and Sora had broken up, much to Tai and Mimi's pleasure. Matt began to date Mimi, even over the long distance. It took Tai and Sora a little longer, but with some help, they finally realized they were right for each other. During the time that TK and I were trying to set them up, we began to fall in love, and eventually decided to date. Davis was finally laying off me, especially now that we were very far away from each other. Of course, the distance was eating away at my older brother. I often heard him talking in his sleep about his longing to hold Sora in his arms, or kiss her, or both.  
  
"When do you leave?" I asked, letting him hug me as we watched the sun set. It represented my feelings: a swirling mass of indecision. Because just like the sun, I was undecided at the moment. I was happy of the time I was spending with TK, but I was upset; I would miss him so much. The sun, in its indecision, was uncertain whether to remain up at the moment, or cast the world into darkness until it rose again. But, like the sun depended on the earth's movement as to whether it would remain up or down, I depended upon TK's decision as to whether I would be happy or sad.  
  
"Tomorrow," he grumbled, his face downcast.  
  
"Be careful," I whispered, kissing him gently. He glanced down into my deep crimson eyes. He'd told me, time after time, that my eyes reminded him of a swimming pool with food coloring. They sucked him in, then drowned him. But that was exactly what his eyes reminded me of, except without the food coloring.  
  
The sun had completely set now, and the darkness enveloped me like a plastic bag. I could barely breathe. But like the earth had made the decision to keep turning, TK made the decision to go to New York. "I'll see you when I get home," he promised, kissing me one final time, a deep passionate kiss that left me begging for more. "I love you."  
  
"I love you, too, TK. See you in two weeks." Little did I know that I might see him sooner, in extreme conditions.  
  
I dragged through the next day. Even Tai couldn't cheer me up, something that he'd never had a problem with before. At 9:35 in the morning, right in the middle of history class, we heard the TV turn on in the classroom next to ours. My teacher raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to tell Mr. Antenon the walls are very thin," she decided. She walked through the office that separated our room and the room next to ours. A moment later, she was back, pale-faced. She turned on the TV solemnly, not saying a word for a second. Then she explained, "The World Trade Center is being bombed."  
  
The class froze. We had been working on a project, and everyone stopped. We stared at the TV for a while before anyone spoke. It didn't sink in. No one understood that history was being made, and we were watching it.  
  
The class ended, with everyone talking at once. Luckily, lunch was the next period. But no sooner had I finished at my locker then a boy ran out of the computer lab. "The first tower just went down," he announced.  
  
It seemed that the entire school ran into the lab. Some people actually went to the lunch room to watch in there. We watched helplessly as the second tower went down. I thought I was going to throw up. I didn't realize tears were streaming down my cheeks. I turned around to leave and collided with my older brother. He hugged me close to him as I tried to stop crying. I know we were thinking the same thing. What if TK and Matt were in that plane?  
  
Throughout the lunch period, I continually checked the TV to see if they would announce the flight number. Shortly after the period ended, we were sent home. I watched TV for hours afterwards. That's when the phone rang.  
  
"Hello?" I asked in greeting.  
  
"Kari." It was TK. Before he said anything, I knew something was wrong. "I love you," he whispered.  
  
"I love you, too," I replied, and then the line went dead.  
  
Puzzled, I walked back to the television, only to hear that a plane had gone down in Philadelphia. I heard a story about how the passengers had distracted the hijackers and crashed the plane themselves. Then I heard the flight number. It was TK and Matt's flight. I cursed, tears streaming down my cheeks. Tai came in; he knew. Without saying a word, he embraced me, and there we stood, both crying.  
  
I didn't want to keep watching TV, but Tai made me. He thought it would be best for me to continue with my everyday life. Every time I tried to focus, though, memories of TK slipped into my head. I remembered the first time he'd asked me out. He had been so nervous, even though he should have known the answer. I thought about the first time he'd kissed me. It had taken so long, because something kept getting in the way. Well, Davis kept getting in the way. And finally he'd told me he loved me. All those memories, along with the more ordinary ones, like him risking his life, time after time, for me in the digital world. He hatred of evil spirits; yet his love for the digimon. Everything he'd done had left a lasting mark on my world. That's when I heard it.  
  
"There is one survivor of the Philadelphia crash," the announcer said. "Supposedly, there was a bright light that led the rescue workers to him. He is being taken to a hospital out in California to be treated. The only doctors that can help him are there. He should arrive there in a few hours. This boy has not yet been identified."  
  
My heart leapt into my throat. TK. He might be okay. "Bright light?" Tai questioned, his face contorted as he thought.  
  
"Who knows? But it could be TK!" I exclaimed.  
  
Tai looked at me, my eyes filled with hope, and he smiled. "It sure could be. If anyone would survive, it would be that kid."  
  
I paced around the hospital for several hours before the paramedics arrived with the survivor. His face was covered, but a bright light was shining through the blanket. I recognized that light. It was TK's light. He was okay. Or, at least, he was alive.  
  
"TK," I whispered, staring at the lifeless form underneath the blanket.  
  
A hospital worker stared at me. "Can you identify this boy?" she asked, pulling the blanket off his face.  
  
My breath caught in my throat. I had to remind myself to inhale. The face was a bloodied mess, covered in cuts and bruises. "It's. TK, um, Takeru Takaishi. Is he going to. be okay?"  
  
"It's looking good," the paramedic said cheerfully. "But he's going to be in a lot of pain for a while, and he's going to need people he's comfortable with when he wakes up. Can you make some phone calls for us? Call his parents, and his closest friends. It would be good not to have too many people, though. That might scare him."  
  
"Of. of course," I stammered, taking my cell phone from my coat pocket. Fumbling with the buttons, I managed to call TK's mom.  
  
"Hello?" She sounded like she'd been crying for a very long time.  
  
"Ms. Takaishi, it's me, Kari."  
  
"Kari, what's wrong, dear?"  
  
"I'm at the hospital. TK's alive! You have to come down here. It looks good, but he needs familiar faces when he wakes up."  
  
For a moment I thought she'd fainted. Then, in a breathless whisper, she managed to squeak, "Kari, thank you. I'll be right down. You're an angel." With that, she hung up.  
  
For a second I stared at the phone in my hand. I'd been called an angel before, mostly by TK, but something in her voice made me think. I wasn't the angel; TK was. He and the other passengers had risked their lives, just so more people wouldn't have to die. And they all died, including Matt. TK was the only survivor.  
  
Gathering my nerve again, I dialed my home number. "Any news?" Tai greeted, not even asking who was on the phone.  
  
"TK's alive, Tai!" I whispered, not believing my own ears, no matter how many times I said it. "You have to come down. He's going to need familiar faces when he wakes up."  
  
"I'll be there in five minutes, kid." He hung up, not bothering to say good-bye.  
  
I felt I should call one more person to come, so I chose carefully. Dialing the number of TK's best friend, Zac Treshold, I waited for an answer. "Hello?" came the quivering voice of the fourteen-year-old. There was no doubt in my mind; he knew what had happened.  
  
"Zac, it's Kari Kamiya. TK's alive. Come down to the hospital."  
  
I heard the clunk of the receiver, then Zac's breathless voice. "Sorry, I dropped the phone. I'll be write down." He hung up.  
  
I dialed a final person: Mimi. She had the right to know what had happened. "Mimi?" I asked when she picked up the phone.  
  
"Kari?" she wailed. "What's going on over there?"  
  
"TK's alive, Mimi, but Matt didn't make it. They were in a plane full of heroes."  
  
I heard a dry sob that clearly told me she had been crying for the better part of an hour. "I was afraid of that," she whispered, through what sounded like clenched teeth.  
  
"I have to go check on TK. I'll keep in touch. Don't beat yourself up about this."  
  
"I won't, kid. Thanks for calling." She hung up, and I could feel the pain she was feeling. Because, for several hours, I'd nearly lost hope that my boyfriend was alive.  
  
Seeing a doctor go sauntering by, cleaning up from a last patient, I stopped him to ask, "Do you know where Takeru Takaishi is?"  
  
"Room 206," the man replied without looking at me. "You a good friend of his?"  
  
"Yeah. Thanks. See you," I mumbled, getting a rather creepy feeling from the doctor.  
  
I went to the door marked 206. Opening it slightly, I saw a group of frantic nurses rushing around. "We're losing him!" one cried.  
  
"I knew that guy was a nut," another muttered grimly. "Keep him stable. Get him stable. I'm going to go find that fraud."  
  
She tore out of the room, nearly colliding with me. "Wouldn't go in there if I were you, kid," she advised, taking off to go find a doctor.  
  
Heeding her warning, I followed her instead. She marched right up to the man I had been talking to earlier. "You _________!" she cursed, causing a lot of people to stare at her. She threw her clipboard at him. "I can't believe you would do something like that to an innocent kid!"  
  
"He's not as innocent as he appears. And I'm not really a doctor." Suddenly he cackled, a high-pitched laugh that sounded vaguely familiar. And then it clicked: the doctor was really Piedmon in disguise. (A/N - I guess you weren't really expecting that. Well, neither was I.)  
  
"Piedmon," I hissed, gripping my D-3 tightly. "You tried to kill us seven years ago, now you're trying to kill us again?" I demanded, stepping out from behind the shadows.  
  
He turned his glare to me, and I felt a terrible shiver shoot through my spine. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Child of Light," he taunted. "Come to save your little boyfriend? I think it's too late."  
  
I snapped. It didn't matter to me that I didn't have my digimon with me, or that I was merely a scrawny fourteen-year-old, while he was a full- grown digimon. I threw myself at him, punching for all I was worth. But he shoved me off him, panting, and glared even more sharply at me. "Didn't you learn your lesson last time?" I whispered, trying to catch my breath.  
  
"You can't win twice!" he hollered, lunging at me. Instinctively, I held up my D-3 and a brilliant light beamed from it. The light froze Piedmon in his tracks, and he cursed loudly. "I'll be back!" he screamed, his last words to me.  
  
The entire hospital was now staring at the place he had stood, and staring at me. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I pocketed my D-3 and muttered, "Well, that was interesting."  
  
The nurse who had cursed Piedmon off was looking very grateful. "You're a hero," she told me, grasping my hand.  
  
I smiled at her, tears shining in my ruby eyes. "I just want to see my hero," I whispered. "Please, please, take me to TK," I begged. By now Ms. Takaishi, Tai, and Zac had shown up. "And them, too," I added, indicating the others.  
  
The nurse swallowed hard and nodded. We followed her slowly. Tai put both hands heavily on my shoulders, and I looked up at him. Smiling, he mumbled, "You were great, Kari. I've never seen you act so brave as you just did. I'm proud of you."  
  
"Thanks, Tai," I replied, my eyes filling with tears again.  
  
"Maybe you deserve the crest of courage," he joked.  
  
"Never. I'm not nearly as brave as you. Actually," I decided, fingering my own crest, which I wore around my neck all the time, "I think my crest is perfect."  
  
"Kari," Tai asked, suddenly sounding serious, "does TK where his crest all the time, like you do?"  
  
"Yeah," I answered, surprised at his question. Then it clicked. "Hope! Tai, his crest saved him."  
  
"You bet," Tai remarked, eyes shining. "That little boy's got some spirit. You know what? He hoped he survive, just so he could be with you, kid."  
  
"Well, he'd better survive." In reality, the chance of him surviving was slim to none, especially with the "modifications" Piedmon had done.  
  
"Please let him be all right," Ms. Takaishi prayed quietly, lost to all but me.  
  
"He will be," I reassured her, patting her arm gently.  
  
She glanced down at me, her eyes glittering with unshed sorrow. "I hope you're right."  
  
Hope, I thought gleefully. It's an omen. "I am," I told her confidently.  
  
But as time passed, the chance of him living decreased. I stayed by his side for hours after that, holding his hand and praying. I was losing hope, something I struggled to keep, for TK's sake. "TK," I whispered, one final time, "I love you. Please, come back to me. You wanted to live for me, and you did! But now you just need to wake up. I can't lose you. I need you."  
  
I recited that over and over in my head. Suddenly his eyelids fluttered open. "Kari?" he mumbled, choking the words out.  
  
"Don't talk," I murmured, wrapping my arms around him. I kissed him gently on the lips, something I'd missed when he was down.  
  
"I want to talk," he retorted, smiling weakly.  
  
I closed my eyes peacefully. "Okay," I relented, "you can talk for a little while."  
  
"I was so scared," he told me, as he struggled not to cry. "I thought that was it, that I was going to die then and there. But I didn't want to die, Kari. I wanted to live. I knew what I had to do, though. So we ambushed the hijackers and crashed the plane in the woods. I knew if I was going to die, I wanted to save lives doing it."  
  
"You did great, TK. You beat all the odds. And you saved millions of lives doing it. I love you, TK, and I want to be able to keep loving you for a long time. When I. saw the towers go down, I panicked. I thought you were on there. But then you called. I knew something was wrong when you called, but I didn't know what. Then I heard the announcement on TV and I got so scared. I thought I'd lost you forever. When they said there was a survivor, I waited in the hospital for hours for them to bring you. I identified you and called your mom, Tai, and Zac. Tai and Zac went to get some food, and your mom's in the bathroom."  
  
"Takeru!" a voice suddenly screamed in joy.  
  
"Speak of the devil," TK muttered happily. She flooded his face with kisses. Usually it bothered TK when his mom kissed him in public, but he was willing to make sacrifices tonight.  
  
When Ms. Takaishi pulled away from her son, Kari pounced on him. She realized they'd spoken for about five minutes and she'd barely kissed him once.  
  
As they pulled away, both blushing slightly, Zac and Tai came in. "TK!" they cried simultaneously. Tai hugged him, while Zac slapped him five.  
  
"You're alive," my brother pointed out.  
  
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," TK quipped.  
  
Tai made a face. "Glad to see you kept your sense of humor," he grumbled.  
  
"Don't be so happy about it," Zac advised, raising his eyebrows at the older boy. The others grinned, me included.  
  
"Did you tell him about Piedmon?" Tai wondered cheerfully.  
  
I closed my eyes. I had hoped not to have to tell TK about that. It would just worry him. But TK's sharp look changed my mind. "What about Piedmon?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
I sighed. "I didn't want to tell you this. He tried to kill you. He posed as a doctor, and then gave you all sorts of stuff that nearly killed you. Then this nurse cornered him and cursed him off. I was nearby and I recognized his laugh and sort of. oh, what's the word? Told him off. He, um, didn't like that, to say the least. So he started making fun of me, then he basically called you dead. I did something kind of crazy. I tried to attack him."  
  
"What?" TK exclaimed.  
  
I blushed. "I didn't want him to hurt you," I mumbled.  
  
"How sweet!" Zac teased, but silenced at TK's glare.  
  
"Anyway, he got mad and, um, well, attacked me back," I squeaked, looking away from TK. "But I held out my D-3, and this bright light came out. It killed him."  
  
TK was giving me a very hard look now. "You know how stupid that was?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer. "You could have been hurt, or worse, killed. I didn't try to survive just so I could find you dead."  
  
Tai, Zac, and Ms. Takaishi took that as their cue to leave the room.  
  
"But," TK continued, not at all distracted by their disappearance, "it was also really brave of you. Thanks."  
  
"TK, I didn't do it to be brave. I just couldn't stand the thought of him hurting you, maybe killing you, after you'd survived the plane crash that killed everyone else."  
  
"Kari?" For the first time, TK sounded like he was eight again, when he looked up to me for answers and advice.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"Is my brother. is Matt dead?"  
  
I hesitated, and that was enough. He bowed his head, unable to stop the burning tears from escaping his eyelids and rolling lazily down his cheeks, until the dripped off his chin and splattered onto the bed in front of him. Wrapping my arms silently around him, we held each other until the nurse came in to check on him. Smiling at the sight, she still had to separate us.  
  
"You'll be better in no time, Mr. Takaishi," she informed him cheerfully.  
  
"Thanks," he replied. "You can call me TK."  
  
"You can call me Beth," she countered, smiling at him pleasantly. She appeared about thirty or so, with dazzling blue eyes and white-blond hair, which extended to the middle of her back. I could tell TK was rather taken aback by her appearance, and he showed it by blushing ever-so- slightly when she smiled at him.  
  
"She's a lot older than you," I whispered into his ear, causing him to turn red on the spot.  
  
"Don't worry," he murmured back. "You're the only one for me." Now it was my turn to blush. He kissed me softly, his lips playfully retreating, making me lean towards him until I nearly toppled over. He giggled slightly. "That's what you get," he teased, stroking my hair.  
  
That night I stayed with him. I sat on his bed until his eyelids could stay open no longer. For a while neither of us spoke. Then I remarked, "The moon's pretty tonight, even when it's enveloped in smoke. What do you suppose that means?"  
  
"I think it means we have to enjoy things, even though bad stuff's happening," he reasoned, wrapping his arm around me.  
  
"Yeah." And then we were silent again.  
  
TK was next to speak up. "Kari?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you think. do you think Matt's in heaven now? Looking down on us with that know-it-all smile and thinking that we're a cute couple."  
  
"Yeah," I whispered, still staring out the window at the moon. "I think he's with all the other heroes, who died saving us."  
  
"I can't help but feel a little guilty. They all died and I survived."  
  
"TK, you can't feel guilty. It's not your fault you lived. You just have more hope than them." I reached for his crest underneath his shirt. Pulling it out, I rested it next to mine. Both began to glow an identical color, and for a moment we just stared at it.  
  
"I love you, Kari."  
  
"I love you, too, TK. I always will."  
  
"No matter what?"  
  
"No matter what."  
  
I wish I could say everything got better after that. And some things did. TK got released from the hospital with no permanent injuries, except a few minor scars around his forehead and cheeks. We became closer, if that was even possible. After that, we were inseparable. But war raged around the country, and it scared us. Especially when my brother turned eighteen.  
  
One night TK and I sat out on the balcony, watching the sun set, just as we had two years prior, the day before he nearly got killed.  
  
"You know what?" he asked, entangling his hands in my hair.  
  
"Probably not," I replied, looking up at him.  
  
"I think my brother's protecting me. He's not going to let me do anything stupid. The other day, I was thinking about making something on the stove, but a little voice in my head told me not to."  
  
"What have I told you about listening to the little voices in your head, TK?" I teased gently.  
  
He didn't reply to that, but merely continued, "Later, my mom came home and told me the stove was broken and that if I had used it I might have set the house on fire. I think Matt told me not to. He knew and he protected me."  
  
I snuggled deeper into his arms. "I'm glad. I don't know what I'd do without you."  
  
"Is Tai happy that Sora moved here?"  
  
"I don't think he can bear the night, just because he's not with her. He's thrilled, and so is she, and so am I. I'm glad they got together."  
  
"Me, too. And I'm glad we got together."  
  
"Yeah. I love you, TK."  
  
"I love you, my angel."  
  
A/N - Please review this. It was extremely hard for me to write. If enough people want me to, I might write some sort of continuation, but I can't make any promises. This story is dedicated to all the people who died on September 11, and all those heroes, the ones that we know, and the ones that we don't know, especially on the flight that is described. May they never be forgotten. 


End file.
